UN vote recognizes state of Palestine; US objects

Israel, US say move by UN makes peace more difficult to achieve

7:04 AM,
Nov. 30, 2012

A Palestinian girl waves a flag during a rally supporting the Palestinian U.N. bid for observer state status, in the West bank city of Ramallah, on Thursday. The UN voted Thursday to recognize Palestine.

Written by

Oren Dorell
| USA Today

The United Nations General Assembly voted Thursday 138-9 to grant Palestine nonmember state status.

The vote does not settle outstanding issues with Israel or change anything on the ground, say experts. There were 41 abstentions.

The historic vote came 65 years to the day after the U.N. General Assembly voted in 1947 to divide Palestine into two states, one for Jews and one for Arabs. Israel became a state but the Palestinians rejected the partition plan, and decades of tension and violence have followed. ...